2006 Trip to England

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 (10:56am)
Today I made some decisions and carried them out. Starting out at a local bookstore I purchase a road map and checked out some towns close to Glastonbury, then I went to the train station to see which town the trains went to that would get me close to Glastonbury; I purchase a ticket to Yeovil Junction. Yeovil Junction is about 12 miles south of Glastonbury and easy ride by bike after all I ride 14 miles in 30 minuets at the fitness center. Train ticket in hand I board a bus headed back to Amesbury where I intend to purchase a used cycle I had seen the day before. Of course the cycle salesman tells me the one I had picked was not recommended for my journey, the one I needed cost twice as much. I purchase the cycle complete with a new seat, which I have been assured will be kind to my butt, and a handle bar bag to store things. Amesbury is 8 miles north of Salisbury so I began the return trip via a, somewhat longer, but less traveled route to get use to my cycle. I rode through beautiful scenic country side which ran along side the river Avon. Thatched roofs, rolling green hills, quiet, and peaceful country side. Needless to say that to day I did not have my camera with me. There were no crop circles that this area is noted for. There were, however, crop lines, sadly it appeared the crop lines were made by tractors not visitors from a distant planet.

I quickly learned that not only was I not use to walking, but I was also not use to cycling. So when the road rolled up with the country side I go off and walked. Straight and downhill were fine, up hill nope I’ll walk. Hopefully at some point I’ll be able to peddle up hills; I hope. I make it back to Salisbury, purchased a lock for my cycle and sat down to have lunch. I ordered a Double Decker sandwich which comes with fries. All the prices on the board had been crossed out and lower ones placed along side. I should have know better.

The Double Decker Sandwich consisted of three slices of very thin bread, one piece of turkey, a teaspoon of cranberry sauce, and a very small piece of lettuce. When I get together with some of the family who remember Grandma Cooke we always bring up her sandwiches, well this was one of them. I headed back to the youth hostel for my computer so I can get online and tell all that I had accomplished. Then it happened I realized MY CELL PHONE WAS GONE. I hurried back to the restaurant in hopes...but no one had turned in a cell phone.

Frantically I head back to the youth hostel to get my computer so I can notify Cingular. Should be simple I’ll go on line, inform Cingular, no problem, silly me. After three hours of attempting to get Cingular to shut off the phone I was getting nowhere, so much for customer service. Tech support which you can IM to online told me they did not have access to my account to turn it off, and gave me a number that would have cost $30.00 to call, this is tech support? They have an online shut off which did not work due to technical difficulties. I am not going to let this ruin my day, I am not going to be loud and pushy, no sir not me, no $%%#^&* way!

Oh I am hiding in the basement of the youth hostel today, from guess who. I am doing my laundry down here reading my guide books. Guess who found me? I read she talked, I smiled and read, she talked, I nodded and read, she talked, I was cornered like a rat. Thank the dryer gods the machine finally buzzed, I politely excuse myself. Yes in deed I am leaving tomorrow! There was time I needed, like now, to set down what I am experiencing. I am sure there are lots of wonderful and interesting people in the Starbucks I haunt, but I am there to write.
I had to change rooms to stay the last night in the hostel and now have somehow acquired a guitar. It was lying on my new bed along with there rest of my belongings the staff had moved for me. Come on Gary what am I going to do with a guitar? I can’t ride down the road playing my guitar like Roy and Gene, I’ll fall right on my you know what. Leave sandals and receive guitar? I turn the guitar in to the guy behind the desk. He wonders why I don’t keep it "You could carry it on your back and learn to play it: I don’t. Golly my nose hurts I will probably have a hole in by nose by the time I get home. I have not found any tape to fix my glasses. Tonight I’ll see if the bunion patch will do the trick. I feel cell phone withdrawals coming on, I wonder if they have a Cell Phone Anonymous here.

Thursday, June 1, 2006

Today it is off to Glastonbury via train and bike, piece of cake. I get to the train station about an hour early and am amazed at the number of people that use trains and buses here. I ask the station attendant which platform, she directs me, I settle in to wait. When I purchased my ticket the day before I was given a choice of trains and a reservation, free, for my bike. I chose the second trail of the day just to be on the safe side. After about ten minuets the first train of the day, heading where I want to go, pulls in, I think to myself "darn I should have purchased a ticket for that train." I notice the station attendant looking around, she heads over to me. "This is your train." she says. I’m confounded for two reasons. First I can’t picture anyone in an American train station watching to make sure a foreigner gets on the right train. Second I don’t have a reservation for my bike on this train.

I explain that I have a ticket for the next train etc. She states I need take the tunnel to a platform on the other side as that is where my train will come in; off I go. Now my bike has all my stuff attached to it, except my backpack, so it is a tad heavy. Down I go through the tunnel which looks like it was dug when steam trains first started running. White washed stone and mortar, with cobble stones on the floor. I get to the other side where another rail attendant comes over and looks at my ticket. "That’s your train over there." he says. I explain again. He says "that does not matter you can take that one. Hurry up before it leaves." Down I go, up I go, running up to the conductor I show him my ticket. He says "Third door and hurry I’m about to blow my whistle." I run down the platform, half way to the door I hear a whistle, I look back, he beckons me to go ahead. I roll on to the train, the door shuts behind me the train rolls out of the station. I’m in a little room with a couple of seats, at the end of the train car. O.K. this must be the bike room I can see out the windows so this will be just find. I can’t understand the guy on the speaker so each time we stop I have to ask the people getting off where we are.
About an hour later we arrive in Yeovil, I get out look around; no town! This is Yeovil Junction and the town is down the road a bit. They are redoing the "this way out" so there is a stairs scaffolding going up and then coming down on the other side of the track, there is no way I going to get this cycle up and down, now what? I look down at a group of men standing by the track at the end of the platform, one beckons to me. He leads me across the tracks to a gate, unlocks for me so I don’t have to climb stairs with my bike. I thank him profusely, walk a little way with my bike, then what the hell I jump on, next stop Yeovil proper, then Ilchester with a short jump to Glastonbury according to the map. Hell I road 8 miles yesterday I can do it again today.
I begin to ride, hit a hill, puff, puff, puff I was the little train that couldn't. Get off and walk up the hill, and up the hill, and up the hill. A guy from the train that I passed when I could ride the cycle was now walking past me. So what I have plenty of time, no where to be except the up the hill. I get to the top, few, get on the bike, zip down the hill. I passed the walking guy na na na to bad you don’t have bike. Guess what is at the bottom of the hill? Yep another hill, get off and walk up the hill. Get to the top, get on ride down. Gentle rolling hills my sore ass.

The rest of the day was zip down, walk up, zip down, walk up. Now this is a "B" road kind of like 89A, but not as wide. I learned how to ride a really straight line as close to the edge of the road as possible in a really short time. Then amazing things happened cars, trucks, and buses stop behind me when there was not enough room to get around me without having a head on collision. By now I’d be dead riding like this back home, but not here. O.K. I can do this zip, walk, zip, walk, zip walk. I get lost ask for directions get back on track zip, walk, zip, walk, zip walk. I am beginning to run out of zip and walk. My butt is sore, my feet are sore, my back is sore, my neck is sore, my head is sore from my hat, just about everything is sore not to mention I have run out of water.

I’m pushing to get up the current hill hoping against hope there are no more after this one. Now it is stop, walk, stop, walk, stop, walk maybe 20 feet at a time. I reach the top, I have a choice one road goes down, one road goes up. Let see which one will I take. The sign shows that the one going up leads to Glastonbury, the one going down leads to Street(the name of a town). The map indicates that I can get to Glastonbury through Street. I need water, I need rest, I need food, I need to get off this cycle, which is not what I’m calling it right now, what I don’t need another hill to go up, so down I go. Zipping is no longer fun because my butt hurts so bad I can’t sit on the bike seat very long. Down in to Street which ends up being a street with some houses and a store. It also ends up being the bottom of yet another hill.

I just can’t do this, but I have to there is no where else to go other then just sit on the side of the road crying. No phone to call anyone, no one to call anyhow. Walk, stop, walk, stop, walk, stop ever so slowly to the top of the hill. Slowly

the top come into view, don’t look up, don’t look up, just walk. The ten pound computer on my back feels like a hundred. It dawns on me that I live at 7000 feet not 100 a very big difference. Almost to the top, don’t look up, to my right a sign for a youth hostel, on my left a sign for a bed and breakfast with free wireless internet. I look up, my eyes can see over the top, there before me is the Glastonbury Tor with St. Michael’s tower on it. I look again realizing I MADE IT! A little sign says Glastonbury 1 mile ahead, another says Yeovil 18 miles behind. I left there at 10:30 am, it is now 4:00 pm.

Eighteen miles in 5 ½ hours is just about 3.5 miles per hour. That is just about the speed wagon trains use to travel at. I had ridden on narrow winding roadways, cars, trucks and bus zipping by only inches(no lie) from me, with sore everything, I didn't stop! The feeling I had when I look out at the Glastonbury Tor was elation and astonishment. I sat on a bench near the side of the road an as I ate orange stared at the Tor absorbing the fact that at 63 I achieved what I have been wanting to since I was 40. I said to my bike bags that I had bought many years ago "We made it, bet you gave up on being here, but here we are." Gingerly I got on the cycle for one more zip down the hill expecting to end up in Glastonbury with no more hills in the way. Silly me I soon found out that the one mile had three more hill packed in for good measure, but I didn’t care I had made it.

I reached Glastonbury and start looking for the Starbucks so I could get on the internet to tell everyone of my feat. I also look around for a place to stay, as I am not going ride back up and down three hills to stay at the youth hostel, lets see that clump of bushes looks pretty darn good. On the way in I noticed that a Texaco (and they still have Gulf stations also) station had a sign for a T-Mobil hotspot. Now I need a place to stay so I ask a taxi drive who has stopped at the station. He gives me directions, I get lost ask again, get more directions, dam I’m good here I am. Yes they have a place for me to pitch a tent, and yes I can stay for two or more nights. I ask if there is a Starbucks here, they think there is one in Street. I meet Ray and Kat who tell me there is one in Street. I say "There is nothing in Street, much less a Starbucks." He said "You were on the wrong road." Up goes Mark’s tent, out goes the air mattress, everything is off the bike. I lock it up and wonder if I can sell it, get a bigger backpack and use the bus? Hummmmm Still thinking.

I ride back to the Texaco station, my butt is killing me, buy some water and a snack. Sitting in the grass on the side of the station like some transient, oops maybe I am one, naa not with a laptop. Sure enough I get on line send my email’s. The hotspot guide tells me there are plenty of hotspot’s all of which are in Street 2 miles away all up hill; I don’t think so. By the way the sun comes up at 4 am and does not set until 10 pm, which makes for a really long day. I get something to eat, head back to camp I craw into the tent close the fly to sleep it is 9:30 pm, it is still light out I don’t care. I did not dream of the beautiful rolling hills.